Cultivator Drone MTG Card

Cultivator Drone - Oath of the Gatewatch

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Eldrazi Drone
Abilities	Devoid
Released	2016-01-22
Set symbol
Set name	Oath of the Gatewatch
Set code	OGW
Power	2
Toughness	3
Number	42
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Slawomir Maniak

Key Takeaways

It’s a vital card for blue and colorless decks, boosting ramp capabilities and offering strategic versatility.
In spite of its utility, Cultivator Drone demands a colorless-centric deck to fully exploit its advantages.
Manages to carve a niche in Eldrazi or artifact strategies, promoting unique synergy and combo potential.

Text of card

Devoid (This card has no color.) : Add to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast a colorless spell, activate an ability of a colorless permanent, or pay a cost that contains . ( represents colorless mana.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Cultivator Drone may not directly draw you cards, but its ability to generate colorless mana can be leveraged to activate key abilities of certain cards that can. This mana can help deploy those abilities earlier or more frequently, ensuring you maintain a good flow of resources.

Resource Acceleration: By providing an additional colorless mana, Cultivator Drone serves as a resource acceleration tool specifically for your colorless or devoid spells. This can be critical in a game where tempo and efficiency are tantamount to seizing victory.

Instant Speed: While Cultivator Drone itself does not operate at instant speed, the colorless mana it provides can be indispensable for activating instant-speed abilities or casting spells when you’re in a pinch, giving you a significant amount of flexibility during gameplay.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of including Cultivator Drone in your deck is that it necessitates having other colorless cards to utilize its mana ability effectively. This constraint may force you to discard other valuable resources when you would prefer to keep a diverse range of options in your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Cultivator Drone’s casting cost is specific, requiring one colorless and two generic mana, which can be a hurdle in multicolor decks that don’t focus on producing colorless mana. It also demands thorough consideration in deck building to ensure that the colorless mana is consistently accessible when needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: In competitive play, three mana for a 2/3 creature may not be the most cost-effective option, especially considering that there are other creatures that can provide similar or better stats or abilities for the same or lower mana cost. The mana ability, while useful, might not compensate for the card’s relative inefficiency in fast-paced games.

Reasons to Include Cultivator Drone in Your Collection

Versatility: Cultivator Drone is a flexible addition to any blue-focused ramp or colorless deck. Its ability to provide colorless mana helps in casting spells or activating abilities that require colorless mana, suitable for Eldrazi decks or artifact-heavy strategies.

Combo Potential: This drone shines when paired with cards that are hungry for colorless mana. It can instantly turn a card like Thought-Knot Seer from a late-game play into a mid-game surprise, disrupting your opponent’s hand just when they least expect it.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where tempo plays are crucial and mana efficiency can turn the tide, Cultivator Drone serves as a cost-effective creature that accelerates your game plan. It can help you stay ahead of the curve, enabling larger threats or pivotal plays a turn earlier than usual.

How to beat

Cultivator Drone holds its own in the realm of mana acceleration and color fixing within the Magic: The Gathering universe. It’s a creature card that brings utility to the battlefield by tapping for colorless mana, which can be a boon for decks leveraging the power of colorless spells or Eldrazi creatures. A central aspect to understand about Cultivator Drone is its dependency on specific board states to maximize its potential.

When facing Cultivator Drone, consider the disruption of your opponent’s mana base to limit their use of its ability. Removal spells targeting creatures can be highly effective at the appropriate time. Another key strategy involves applying pressure early in the game, as Cultivator Drone cannot defend well against aggressively costed creatures. Deprive the opponent the chance to stabilize their board and utilize the Drone’s mana ability to its fullest extent.

Ultimately, handling Cultivator Drone requires a mix of timely removal and applying consistent pressure. By undermining the advantages provided by the Drone, one can minimize its impact on the game and maintain the upper hand in the match. Recognizing and exploiting the moments when Cultivator Drone is most vulnerable will advance your strategy and help secure victory over decks that include this resourceful creature.

Cards like Cultivator Drone

Cultivator Drone joins the realm of colorless mana dorks in Magic: The Gathering, drawing comparisons to strong field staples such as Palladium Myr. Both are designed to ramp up mana, yet Cultivator Drone comes with a nuanced restriction, only usable to cast colorless spells. Palladium Myr does not share this limitation, providing a more flexible mana boost across all types of spells.

Contrasting Cultivator Drone with Hedron Crawler reveals that the drone offers more than mere mana acceleration. Although Hedron Crawler gets you an extra mana for less initial investment, Cultivator Drone’s higher power and the specific mechanic to support Eldrazi-focused decks give it a unique role. Another relative in this category is Kozilek’s Channeler, which yields two colorless mana but comes with a steeper casting cost and a larger body.

Evaluating the value within the ecosystem of mana-producing creatures, Cultivator Drone serves as an essential piece in decks exploiting colorless spells. Its specific constraint is what differentiates it from its peers, carving out a niche in strategies dedicated to harnessing the might of the Eldrazi or other colorless entities.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cultivator Drone MTG card by a specific set like Oath of the Gatewatch, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Cultivator Drone and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Cultivator Drone has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Cultivator Drone card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2016-01-22	Mana produced by Cultivator Drone may be used to cast any colorless spell, including most artifact spells, face-down spells, and spells with devoid.
2016-01-22	Some triggered abilities include a cost as part of their resolution. For example, Bearer of Silence’s ability says, in part, “When you cast Bearer of Silence, you may pay .” You may use mana produced by Cultivator Drone to help pay that cost. In fact, you could tap two Cultivator Drones to pay the entire cost.